CHAIR

I am a humanitarian, an environmentalist, and I place the intrinsic value of life above material and economic gain, which marks me a progressive. I have served as Assistant Treasurer and then Secretary for the Jefferson County Dems, and have volunteered for various electeds and campaigns. By day I am an IT Project Manager, and I will bring the skills from my day job and values from my life to this powerful Initiative. With the correct organization and proactive decisions, we can increase the voice of Progressives and increase the number of Progressive electeds in Colorado.

VICE CHAIR

As an avowed unionist organizing in Big Tech I’ve seen the value of organizing for the common good, and how when we work in solidarity, we can make a difference in people’s everyday lives. I’ve been involved with the Colorado Democratic Party since 2016 when my son joined me at caucus, and wished he was able to vote. I realized my obligation to make the world a better place. Not just for future generations, but even for ourselves, as we see the impact of neo-liberal policies degrading our institutions, and the attacks by the Far Right on our freedoms. Before getting laid off from Big Tech my day job was technical program manager, so I bring those uber-organizing skills along with my own experience unionizing to help our Initiative bring progressive values to the forefront. You’ll find me running around HD24 as a Captain and PO, as well as a member of the State Outreach Commission for DCP.

TREASURER

I’m an advocate for immigrants, the environment, animals and everyone who does not have enough money to buy a politician to represent them. I serve as the Captain for the Democratic Party for House District 7. I am a nonprofit fundraiser that specializes in gift planning. I am an avid volunteer whenever progressive candidates or ballot initiatives are on the ballot. I am passionate about raising money for causes I care about and I am excited to bring my skills to help progressive causes.

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

Skip Madsen is a lifelong Democrat and started years ago as a New Left member with Young Democrats. “Progressive since God made me,” he says.

He was a member of the 2016 Democratic National Convention Rules Committee representing Bernie Sanders. In March 2017, he was appointed Chair of the Colorado Democratic Party Rules Committee.

Skip is Founder (2016) and current Executive Director of DECO, Democracy Enter Colorado, an organization with a mission to inform, educate, and engage Colorado voters in the political process. Skip’s political mottoes are: “If you don’t know the rules, you don’t know how to play the game,” and “Measure your response by how it serves your goal, not by how it serves your fury.”

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

Michael is a community activist and volunteer lobbyist for Colorado Cross-Disability Coalition, as well as a member of the Colorado Community Engagement Roundtable, the Colorado Disability Funding Council, and the Denver Democratic Party Diversity and Inclusion Committee.

“I have been involved in campaign volunteer work with Democrats since Gail Schoettler nearly beat Bill Owens. In 2004, I was a National Delegate to the Democratic National Committee for Dennis Kucinich, where Progressive Democrats of Colorado came from.

I have been on the frontlines of climate change protests, protests in support of Medicare and Medicaid, and anti-war protests. I am also an active volunteer for Colorado NARAL (now Cobalt), Planned Parenthood, and the ACLU. In my spare time, I love my Newfoundland dog, reading, and playing on my computer.”

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

Susan Johnson began her journey as an activist fighting the privatization of public education in Denver Public Schools.

Her experience as the first parent to opt her daughter out of standardized testing at her daughter's middle school and the tremendous pushback she received from the principal and the district propelled her into the opt out movement.

Susan is interested in working to inform her community of the negative aspects of corporate education reform and the necessity to take action to preserve public education. She has also been on the board of Our Revolution Metro Denver since 2018.

She has a bachelor's degree in Business Administration and Professional Certification in Information Technology and currently works full time for a large IT Services company.

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

As a delegate to the National DNC 2016 and 2020 for Bernie Sanders, I knew that our work for progressive values was far from over. I was delighted to join PDC as a board member when work began to give new life to this group.

My career includes high school science teacher, Senior Level Addictions Counselor, Program manager for a Teen pregnancy program. I am currently a consultant and hearing officer for HUD housing authorities.

My dedication and engagement in supporting progressive values and candidates include:

Founder of Our Revolution Metro Denver; Council member since its inception in 2017.

PCP for Precinct 221; State Central Committee; CD1 Central Committee; current State Dems Executive Committee.

Bernie 2020 National Victory Captain; organized “Journey for Bernie” for Iowa in 2020.

Journeyed to Standing Rock to stand with and to deliver supplies to the water protectors.

Knocked on hundreds and hundreds of doors and made thousands of calls for progressive ballot initiatives and candidates.

I pledge to you that I am here for the long run and will do all that I can to promote progressive values and support candidates and ballot initiatives that represent these values, and I will operate with respect and integrity.

I joined the Progressive Movement in 2005 after flying to Washington, DC to march for an end to the Iraq War, social justice, and the impeachment of George W Bush. Discovering the Progressive Democrats of America when there, I later became involved with PDC, first as an Executive Committee member, then as Co-Chair or Vice-Chair. I’m stepping back to seek a mentoring board position and make room for younger Dems while also focusing more on my other passion – the Party Platform (which IS very Progressive). I’ve been heavily involved there for 15 years and am proud to have just been re-appointed to chair the state committee by our new state party chair. It will be my 5th 2-year term across 3 different state chairs. I believe the Platform represents the power of the people, starting at the grassroots, and is NOT represented by development behind closed doors and a political system driven by money and lobbyists. I tell our legislators I believe the Platform leads the politicians and it’s not to be the other way around. As chair of the state Resolutions Committee much of that time, I’m told I have a calming influence while giving everyone a chance to have their voices heard.

I was elected by 2016 Sanders delegates to serve on the National Platform Committee where my amendment to create a pathway to marijuana legalization passed the 187-member committee by a single vote. I was surprised in 2020 when the Sanders campaign specifically requested our current chair and I to represent him again in 2020.

I was educated in Journalism at CU-Boulder and use years of experience there with both communication and research. I took a lawsuit against Wells Fargo and its law firm concerning the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and foreclosure all the way to the US Supreme Court in 2019. (No, I lost, but continue to work toward legislative changes on areas primarily related to money). The US House is a better representation of the people and has twice passed legislation to fix the FDCPA, but bills die in the Senate. I was appointed by Governor Polis in 2019 to the nonpartisan State Judicial Performance Commission, where we review Colorado Supreme Court and Appeals judges and draft rules for all state judicial districts. I am in my final 4-year term.